


Never the right Time

by Jupe



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: M/M, Pining, Pre-Time Skip, Short, Spoilers for the end of the academy phase
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:35:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24294463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jupe/pseuds/Jupe
Summary: What do you do when you have a crush on your best friend? And,more importantly: How can you tell if it's the right time to confess your feelings?
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Kudos: 15





	Never the right Time

**Author's Note:**

> A thanks to @avarice017 on Twitter for letting me use this idea!

Sylvain watched from afar as Felix demanded yet another round of swordfighting from their professor. Byleth looked mildly exhausted,but agreed nevertheless,once again raising her sword against her student,who didn't hesitate to charge forward with all he had. It never failed to amaze Sylvain how eager Felix was about training. The neverending energy he had for it was something truly impressive.  
"Maybe if you actually trained rather than just watching other people,you would actually improve.",a familiar voice from behind came to nag Sylvain. He turned around with the sweetest,most apologetic smile he could muster. "Ingrid! It's so good to see you,my friend! Lovely day, isn't it?" The blonde towered over him with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She looked at him with the usual stern expression that she seemed to have reserved for Sylvain (And Sylvain only). "You heard me just fine. Get up and _train_!"  
Sylvain knew Ingrid well enough to be able to tell that her tone meant she was dead serious. He bit his lip and took a moment to think. He needed to be fast if he wanted to get out of this without trouble. The only thing he could come up with was to jump up and put on his best act of surprise. "Oh hey,look how late it is! I _completely_ forgot that I was on stable duty today. Yeah. I _definitely_ need to head there _right now_ and take care of all the… Stable things. See you later!" With that,he bolted before Ingrid got the chance to say anything else. He ran -into the direction that did _not_ lead to the stables- until he was sure he was out of side. It seemed as though the goddess had mercy on him today- Ingrid didn't bother to run after him like she would do most times. He slowed down to walking speed and sighed.

Ingrid wasn't wrong,saying that he needed to put more effort into training. He definitely needed it,if he didn't want to stay behind while all of his classmates got better with each day. In fact,training had been the reason why he had been to the training grounds in the first place. However,he just couldn't bring himself to do it when Felix was around- Which had proven to be a huge problem,given that Felix was almost _always_ there.  
At first,Sylvain had just been scared of doing something wrong and embarrassing himself (for reasons that had been completely beyond him at that point),but he quickly realized an even bigger issue: He would always end up getting far too sidetracked by the way Felix fought. Sylvain couldn't help but watch every single one of his movements- The way his muscles moved beneath his clothes,the expressions he made,the loose strands of hair that would sooner or later escape the bun they were usually tucked into. To Sylvain,all of it seemed like the most beautiful form of art- But also the most deadly to his nerves. Each time they were completely wrecked,up to the point where he could only stand and watch in awe, completely forgetting why he was there. To his own luck this hadn't followed him to the actual battlefield yet. Although it was only a matter of time until it would happen there,too.

Sylvain tried to deny it for a long time,but after one too many particularly _intense_ dreams starring Felix as the main character,he was forced to admit to himself that the real issue were the feelings he had for Felix. They'd been lying dormant long enough,back when they would only see each other once every few months. But living at the Monastery and seeing Felix every day was something completely different. The sudden outburst of Sylvain's feelings had completely crushed him to the point where he didn't understand what was happening at all. Falling in love with one of his best friends -Felix,nonetheless!- was nothing he ever would have expected to happen. And yet,here he was,a complete mess that couldn't even watch Felix fight without getting far too many,far too wrong ideas. He would curse his own mind every time,but ultimately gave in to it and started to accept his feelings instead, which in turn had started to only grow even stronger. Ever since,Sylvain had been struggling to find the right way to convey his feelings to the man who had caused all of this mess to begin with.

But as skilled as Sylvain was in pursuing _most_ girls he came across,he surely was bad at doing so with someone he was actually serious with. His first idea was to confess at the ball - ask Felix for a dance,sneak out to the goddess tower with him,then confessing his feelings there - but that idea had crashed and burned. Felix had, reluctantly,agreed to dance with him,albeit with the most weirded-out look Sylvain had ever seen on anyone. But still, his friend had taken his hand and let him lead them onto the dancefloor. There,he had been so nervous that he repeatedly stepped on Felix's feed,who would curse Sylvain out each time. For reasons that were completely beyond Sylvain, Felix had agreed to go to the goddess tower with him regardless,even after that disastrous dance. There, however, Sylvain's courage ultimately left him. As he stood there, staring deeply into Felix's eyes, the words got stuck in his throat. Instead,he just stood there like an idiot,cracked a particularly bad joke and quickly suggested to go back. That failure was something that would haunt him for the rest of his days.

Now the year was slowly coming to an end and Sylvain still couldn't find a way to tell Felix how he really felt. He was growing increasingly scared that time would be up before he could get to it and they would all have to return back home to Faerghus. Would he still get a chance to do it then? Or would life keep getting in the way and,before he knew it,they would both be married off to whichever girl seemed fit? That was a future Sylvain didn't want to see. No,the only future he would happily accept was one where him and Felix could be together. But that meant that he needed to get over his fear as soon as possible.

It was then that a group of female students happened to walk past him. They didn't even notice him,being far too caught up in their own conversation.  
"Do you think he'll do that for you?",one of them asked excitedly. The girl the question had been directed at blushed. "I-i don't know! Maybe?" "Oh,that would be just so sweet!",the first exclaimed. Another girl then chimed in,smiling widely. "Seeing how much he loves you,I doubt he'll pass on an opportunity like that to show his love for you!"  
Sylvain stopped listening in when Dorothea approached him,an easy grin resting on her lips. "Oh Sylvain,will you ever stop looking after every girl you come across? I'll have you know,two out of them have boyfriends,the third is already promised to some Alliance lord. So no chance for you there." Sylvain vehemently shook his head. "No! That's not what I was- I wasn't checking them out!",he protested. Dorothea's expression didn't change. "Then why were you listening in on their conversation? Don't deny it,I was watching." Sylvain sighed. "I was just… Curious what they were talking about." The truth sounded like the cheapest excuse in history.  
Still,Dorothea's smile softened,ever so slightly. "I would have thought you out of all people would know about this. Do you really not know about the graduation tradition?" Sylvain just sheepishly shook his head. The girl chuckled. "Well,I assume you never stayed with a girl long enough to even consider this,huh? Alright,let me enlighten you then. There is a tradition for students of the Academy to give their partners -or, sometimes,their crushes- a single flower of a kind that grows on,or near,the battlefield they first fought on side by side. That's what they were talking about." Sylvain blinked at her. "Is that so? I really never heard of that. Interesting…" Dorothea frowned. "Listen,I hope you don't plan on handing out flower to one of your little flirts. People do this only if they are very serious about it." He quickly forced a smile onto his face. "Yeah,I understand. Don't worry,I don't plan to be stupid! Now,please excuse me!"

With that,he ran again. This was already the second time today he was running away from a girl. He headed straight to his room,where he leaned against the door,closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This would be his last chance. And it was a perfect one,too. Sylvain still remembered the first battle he fought alongside Felix clear as day. It had been a few years before Garreg Mach. They had been sent off to assist with some border conflict that escalated. Once they got there,they ended up being the ones getting attacked. The battle itself wasn't too memorable. It had ended almost before it actually started. Still,there was one moment Sylvain remembered vividly. He recalled the axe fighter sneaking up on Felix from a blind spot. He recalled screaming and running and pushing Felix out of the way while jabbing his lance at the guy. Sylvain ended up breaking his wrist,not from the fight,but from falling onto it as him and Felix fell to the ground,but in the end they were fine. From the place they were lying on Sylvain had clearly seen a few dots of purple im the grass- a few pansies growing not too far away from them.  
Yes,Sylvain would make sure to give a pansy to Felix on they day they graduated. Then he would finally -finally!- tell him how he felt. It seemed simple enough. He wouldn't fail again. For now,all he had to do was wait for the day of their graduation to come. Whatever could go wrong with that?

-

When it eventually became clear that a war would break loose within Fódlan,the first thing on Sylvain's mind weren't the hardships it would bring. It wasn't his family's,and definitely not his own life he feared for. All that was on his mind was one thought,repeating over and over again. _How am I going to tell him now?_ For a short moment he considered just telling him right before Garreg Mach was attacked. However,it took nothing more than a single look at Felix to know that this wasn't the time. Neither of them needed to go into battle with _that_ swirling around in their minds. It seemed as though all Sylvain could do was to hold out until the moment was right and pray that both of them would live to see that moment.

**Author's Note:**

> This was super fun to write. I'm *very* tempted to turn this into a multiple chapter fic now,so uhm... Yeah,I might do that when I find the time for it.


End file.
